My Most Recent Ride 2012 (Part V in a series)

Rode today. Aimed for a bit over 7 miles, but it came to about the same 6.5 as the usual River Loop with extension.

Other than seeing a male pheasant by the river (twice) as I passed a feeding station intended for ducks and a few snowflakes drifting past my nose thanks to 38 F temps and partly cloudy skies with high winds, a fairly standard ride.

But it got Loke and I out of the house for an hour.

Terii

 

Brian,

This is my favorite picture of you.

 

Revisiting some favourite roads yesterday, in my longest ride to date this year, was bittersweet.

It's Spring and has been for a while now, so,
although the redbuds, daffodils and now the dogwoods are past their peak?
Other wildflowers, flowering shrubs and trees are at their peak.

Spring is sweet!

However, it's a bitter thing, for me, having to put up with my selfish fellow
road users.
For example:

-That damfool driver in his black SUV brushing by me, horn blaring.
And with a passing lane available too.

-That murderous same-lane pass with inches to spare, by the Yellow-truck
driver in the full-sized (tires taller than me on my bike) tractor-trailer rig.

-That vigilante in the red compact car who passed me on a blind turn
and then slammed on the antilock-brakes, coming to a full-stop.

-That dog walker with her pet clipped into it's retractable lead...
with the lead fully unreeled. Her dog had the run of the road.

---

It being early in the biking season for me, I'm still working up to speed.
Here's what I mean:

I saw the road bike gaining on me, while I was on a fast, flat, 3-mile
long section of road.
Nothing I could do about it.
Last year, my top speed there was 24m.p.h.;
it was all I could do to maintain 20m.p.h. and allow this roadie to pass.
Sure, he was wearing skin-tight aerodynamic lycra (I don't)
and the young man was actually using his aerobars...
but this is MY road (usually)!

Three miles on down the road, the young man got up out of his aerobars
and on top of his brake hoods.
I quickly caught up (still cruising at 20m.p.h.), turned around and continued my ride, all without him being aware that he'd been caught.
That happens a lot to bicyclists that I chase down: few have mirrors.
That young mad did not have a mirror!

 

Rode 16.7 miles today WITH NO FLATS!! My new rear tire did the trick.

It was 85 degrees when I got back and this is only April 2nd. This weather is NUTS!!!

 

Loke and I went out again today. The ride was right at about 10 miles. 40 F, mostly sunny skies and a light/moderate breeze instead of our usually sadistically brutal wind.

I decided to take one of my other short loops, but cut out a tedious 3 mile section of it. The stretch is so boring even Loke wants to fall asleep as he runs through it.

It was a nice ride though. I wasn't cold. A red squirrel sat in the middle of the road staring at us at one point. I see them so rarely, so this one being so bold was quite a shock. It didn't bolt until we were less than 30 feet away. Immediately after that, I passed by some pasture with horses and 3 of them came running to the fence and then ran along with us until they came to the end of their paddock. They whinnied after us as if they wanted us to come back and play some more.

I found myself making up hills a bit quicker too. Slopes I usually climb at 3 mph or less, I was managing 5 or 6 mph. I've apparently gotten my fitness level up enough that I can spin at a cadence fast enough to make a difference.

Loke did fine which is a relief and both of us had a nice outing.

Terii

 

Another ride today! Just a short river loop outing. Loke needed a walk and I wanted to go to the local gas station which also happens to rent videos. I picked up the new version of The Thing. I don't have any high hopes for the movie, but I can't NOT watch it given how big cult classics the original two are.

The wind wasn't too bad, but I was a bit irritated that I started out the ride in sunshine, but 1 min later, I was in a cloud shadow. It stayed with me for the rest of the ride. 60% clear skies and ONE cloud haunted me.

Oh! Forgot to mention that just as I was getting ready for my ride yesterday, the package I've been expecting from my dad for nearly 2 weeks arrived! I have my new sleeping bag! It is a DREAM. I have room for my shoulders, elbows, hands and feet. I can move round, do more than lay flat on my back with hands pinned against my tummy and feet bound together! It's a petite too so I don't have 3' of empty sack flapping at the end of my toes! LOVE IT!

Terii

 

I don't know if there has been a remake of the oriignal move "The Thing", but I do know that they made a "Prequel" to the original. Willie G and I watched a few weeks ago. It shows the "finding" of the alien and how it got into the "look out post." I was impressed by the way that they made the movie look "old" like it was made back when the original was made. The darkness, the outpost/scene set ups, the retro look of clothing etc. They really tied in the scenes really well.

 

Ahh! Good to know and nice they tried to blend the two! Now, just need Jens to get home so we can watch it.

Terii

 

The original was "The Thing from Another World" in 1951 with Kenneth Tobey & Margaret Sheridan.

The remake was entitled just "The Thing" in 1982 with Kurt Russell and Wilford Brimley.

Keila is correct that the most recent was the third film, 2011's prequel with Joel Edgerton and Mary Winstead.

The 1982 remake was good, but Brimley as a doctor was a stretch. It also didn't have any women in it. Men never can scream as well as the women.

 

Now that is interesting...I never knew the 1982 was a remake...Willie G had never seen that one at all and we rented "the thing" and then a few weeks later rented the prequel to it. I like good sci-fi horrors... but not blood & guts slasher films

What's this about women screaming better than men? Ha, I beg to differ. I have heard some guys scream... and I'm not talking about pubescent males either...of the few I've heard...some would put a female scream to shame.

To get back to recumbents though, I rode about a ½ mile down the sidewalk today to get the number for this restaurant I'm planning on eating at during the rally. These two young boys stopped to let me in front of them when I left my parking lot. They were on mountain bikes. I had my BikeE in 2nd and midway in the back. I wasn't pedaling very fast either. I almost laughed because they were really pumping their pedals hard to keep up with me and they would get close and I could hear them huffing and puffing and I would simply crank a little bit more and pull away from them and then I could hear them start muttering to themselves and they'd get a little closer and of course I'd pull away a little. At one point I could tell both were so out of breath they sounded like they were going to pass out. So I actually stopped at the next road connection and let them pass. As they did I smiled and continued biking to my destination. I don't know why they kept looking back as they biked away...

 

OK my most recent ride was my Bacchetta in the back of my car today. I drove to Newport to see Mark Power. I had a headrest added to my Strada. So now i can nap when i ride! So I drove 46 miles with my Bacchetta in the back of the car. Does that count??? :

Met a lady who just signed up to our web site who is planning to come to our recumbent rally.

 

67 miles today, that's my longest ride ever on a recumbent. Lets just hope I can walk tomorrow ! I've discovered one flaw in the otherwise wonderful design of the ICE trike - there's no easy place to mount a map holder ! I guess that's probably an issue on most recumbents. On the other hand it is a lot easier to read a map while you are cycling on the Trike than on an upright, so it's not such a big deal. I see Google have produced some prototype glasses that give a
"heads up display" on the lens - sounds a bit Top Gun, but may be a solution for in the future. If they can sort a rocket launcher to deal with pesky cars as well, that would be fab !
Adrian

 

Adrian. When I started riding my regular bike to get exercise after I quit jogging, I thought people who rode centuries were ! Now that I have 3 of them under my bent belt, it is no big deal.

To get there, I rode my first big long ride of 23 miles on a trike. Next year I tried a Metric Century and completed it. The following three years did Centuries. So going 67 miles is your first trike Metric Century.

 

Yesterday was a glorious day. Mid 60s, sunny, and little wind. I couldn't stand to be inside so I took my Bacchetta to the Coulter Bridge and rode to Townsend (where we are having the Smoky Mountain Recumbent Rally) and back.

When I was getting ready to ride a group of 4 guys pulled up to cars next to mine. They had just finished the same ride and were exclaiming what a fast ride they had had. Then they started looking at miles and average. In a pack they average 16.0 MPH. Yesterday I averaged 16.7 MPH without the benefit of any drafting.

Proceeded to ride 22 wonderful miles. Right at the end of the ride I passed a wabbit. They were doing around 18 MPH in my estimate. I passed them at 25 MPH! What fun!!!!

One side note. I have had cramping issues for a while when I push myself on the bent. So I started taking 2 ibuprofen and an electrolyte capsule. So far so good!!!

 

That is great! Good for you Jon...and you always think you are not fast. You are just modest. I got your calling cardstuck in the door again. You are silly.